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Thursday, April 3, 2014

Diamond 4-4-2 not viable option for USMNT in Brazil

The United States controlled the battle in midfield and created
meaningful scoring chances in the first
half largely because of the partnership between Michael Bradley and Kyle
Beckerman in the middle of midfield. The deep lying positions Beckerman
takes up and his strong
defensive positioning allow Bradley a platform to push into advanced
areas in the final third where he offers an intelligence in possession
and vision no other USMNT player has. The formation was labeled a
diamond 4-4-2 with Bradley operating at the top of the diamond as a #10
off the two forwards Clint Dempsey and Chris Wondolowski. Playing a #10
off a front two is an incredibly attacking formation. Its positives are
that it allows a side to get plenty of players forward, creating
numerous passing options in the final third and getting players into the
box to get on the end of crosses.

Against Mexico in the first half last night
the Bradley-Beckerman midfield pairing created a nice balance. Mexico's
defensive shape was far less compact than it needed to be and Bradley
was easily able to move into dangerous pockets of space between the
lines. Throughout the half he was given the space to comfortably receive
possession in threatening areas in front of the Mexico defense and pick
out penetrating passes forward. His delayed runs into the box were also
a huge problem for Mexico. With the US playing two forwards, both
Mexico center backs had a direct opponent to mark (ie Mexico didn't have
a spare center back to sit in and offer cover). This meant that when
Bradley burst in behind Mexico's midfielders, there was no spare center
back to pick up his run. The US's second goal came from one of these
runs. When the US conceded possession, Mexico wasn't able to transition
forward quickly enough to
overwhelm the space in front of the US back 4
patrolled by Beckerman.

The negatives of a formation
that employs a #10 behind two forwards is
that it sacrafices a deep lying midfielder for the advanced #10. This
can leave a team too thin in the middle of the pitch when they lose
possession with only the single holding midfielder positioned to slow
down counterattacks. This creates an open contest which against an
effective counter attacking team will nearly always be costly. Mexico
weren't able to transition from defense to offense quickly enough in the
opening 45 minutes to exploit the space behind the US's advanced
attackers but a strong counter attacking side like Germany or Portugal
certainly would have. As impressive as the US looked in possession in
the first half last night, the diamond 4-4-2 we saw is not a viable
option for the team in Brazil. The US will have to play two holding
midfielders in a double pivot. Playing a single holding midfielder in a
diamond simply asks too much defensively of that player- most likely
Beckerman- in slowing counter attacks. Germany is probably the strongest
side in the world at transitioning rapidly from defense to offense.
They showed in the 2010 World Cup against Argentina if given open space
to break into on the counter they can be deadly. Since then their squad
has gotten even more talented. Likewise, Cristian Ronaldo will destroy a defense
if he's allowed to receive the ball in space and sprint at an opposition
back four.

When the US has played a double pivot it has mostly consisted
of Bradley and Jermaine Jones. This partnership has had its own
problems. Too often the communication between the two players of who is
staying deep and who is pushing forward hasn't been good enough. As a
result at times they'll both get sucked high up the pitch, leaving no
cover for the back four. For me, the solution is to employ a double
pivot 4-2-3-1 but with Beckerman as one of the two holders alongside
Jones with Bradley in a more advanced #10 role. Jones and Beckerman (two
unfairly derided players) compliment each other well. Beckerman is
positionally disciplined and reads the game intelligently. His weakness
is a lack of pace and athleticism. Jones brings that pace, athleticism
and bite in the tackle. His main weakness is his often suspect
positioning which would become less of an issue with Beckerman providing
cover alongside him. The big question of course is what do you do with
Dempsey if Bradley is playing behind the main striker. Dempsey is
capable of the spectacular and can turn a game on its head in an instant
and therefore needs to be on the field. However, for me he's not a
gifted enough distributor to play in the #10 role. Too often his passes
force his intended target too far wide or force his target to slow their
run up to receive an underhit ball. I'd prefer him starting in a wide
position and tucking inside where he can run at the opposition fullback.

A three man midfield of Beckerman, Jones and Bradley
gives the US a nice mix of positional discipline, energy and
athleticism, and technique and vision. Playing with two up front and a
#10 was certainly entertaining last night but not a realistic system to
play in Brazil.